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Introduction
1.1 BIOTECHNOLOGY
Biotechnology can be broadly defined as "Commercial techniques
that use living organisms, or substances from those organisms, to
make or modify a product, including techniques used for the
improvement of the characteristics of economically important plants
and animals and for the development of microorganisms to act on the
environment ... " (Congress of the United States, 1984). If
biotechnology is defined in this general sense, the area cannot be
considered new. Since ancient days, people knew how to utilize
microorganisms to ferment beverage and food, though they did not
know what was responsible for those biological changes. People also
knew how to crossbreed plants and animals for better yields. In
recent years, the term biotechnology is being used to refer to novel
techniques such as recombinant DNA and cell fusion.
Recombinant DNA allows the direct manipulation of genetic
material of individual cells, which may be used to develop
microorganisms that produce new products as well as useful
organisms. The laboratory technology for the genetic manipulation
within living cells is also known as genetic engineering. A major
objective of this technique is to splice a foreign gene for a desired
product into circular forms of DNA (plasmids), and then to insert
them into an organism, so that the foreign gene can be expressed to
produce the product from the organism.
Cell fusion is a process to form a single hybrid cell with nuclei and
cytoplasm from two different types of cells in order to combine the
desirable characteristics of the two. As an example, specialized cells
of the immune system can produce useful antibodies. However, it is
difficult to cultivate those cells because their growth rate is very slow.
2 Fundamentals of Biochemical Engineering
On the other hand, certain tumor cells have the traits for immortality
and rapid proliferation. By combining the two cells by fusion, a
hybridoma can be created that has both traits. The monoclonal
antibodies (MAbs) produced from the hybridoma cells can be used
for diagnosis, disease treatment, and protein purification.
The applications of this new biotechnology are numerous, as listed
in Table 1.1. Previously expensive and rare pharmaceuticals such as
insulin for diabetics, human growth hormone to treat children with
dwarfism, interferon to fight infection, vaccines to prevent diseases,
and monoclonal antibody for diagnostics can be produced from
genetically modified cells or hybridoma cells inexpensively and also
in large quantities. Disease-free seed stocks or healthier, higher-
yielding food animals can be developed. Important crop species can
be modified to have traits that can resist stress, herbicide, and pest.
Furthermore, recombinant DNA technology can be applied to
develop genetically modified microorganisms so that they can
produce various chemical compounds with higher yields than
unmodified microorganisms can.
Production
fermenter
enzymes
2CH3CHOHCOOH
Introduction 7
1.5 PROBLEMS
1.1 Read anyone article as a general introduction to
biotechnology. Bring a copy of the article and be ready to
discuss or explain it during class.
1.6 REFERENCES
Congress of the United States, Commercial Biotechnology: An International
Analysis, p. 589. Washington, DC: Office of Technology Assessment, 1984.